The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is a cordless stick vacuum that comes bundled with a mopping accessory for clearing away dried-on stains. It's almost entirely identical to its sibling, the standard Dyson V15 Detect, but only the Submarine model is compatible with this uniquely designed attachment. That means it shares a similar 240AW suction motor, an onboard particle sensor, and a power adjustment system that allows the vacuum to automatically adapt to changes in surface type or whenever there's an increase in the amount of debris on the ground.
Our Verdict
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is a good choice for bare floors. It clears away all kinds of debris on this surface type, ranging from pet hair to small and bulky debris. Its tertiary mopping floorhead also does a good job of clearing away stains, though it's also rather tedious to clean, and it doesn't hold all that much water. The vacuum itself is quite maneuverable and incurs fairly minimal ownership costs as long as it's properly maintained. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel especially sturdy.
- Good overall cleaning performance.
- Lightweight, maneuverable construction.
- Great battery performance for a cordless model.
- Doesn't feel especially sturdy.
- Submarine head incurs extra maintenance requirements and ownership costs.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is decent for cleaning low-pile carpet. It easily clears away pet hair and solid debris from this surface type, though you might need to make another pass or two to deal with really fine debris. Its bagless design and washable allergen-trapping exhaust filter also result in a near-total absence of recurring costs. However, while it is lightweight and easy to maneuver, its plastic chassis doesn't feel especially sturdy. It also has quite a few parts that require regular maintenance.
- Good overall cleaning performance.
- Great battery performance for a cordless model.
- Automatic power adjustment system.
- Doesn't feel especially sturdy.
- Can be hard to maneuver on some carpets.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine delivers good performance on high-pile carpet. Thanks to its bagless design and washable filter, it incurs fairly low recurring costs. It clears pet hair and larger solid material from this surface type pretty easily, though another pass might be required for finer debris embedded in deeper carpets. Its surface detection system also enables it to raise its suction power on high-pile carpeting. Unfortunately, its high suction power makes it difficult to maneuver on shag-pile carpet, and it can even drag some smaller rugs around.
- Good overall cleaning performance.
- Great battery performance for a cordless model.
- Automatic power adjustment system.
- Doesn't feel especially sturdy.
- Can be hard to maneuver on some carpets.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is very good for cleaning up pet hair. It does an outstanding job of sucking up pet hair on bare floors and low and high-pile carpet. It also has a whole machine filtration system that traps allergens as you clean, which is great for sealing in allergens like pet dander. However, it's worth noting that only the V15s Detect Submarine Absolute model has a filter with an actual HEPA rating. You can also remove the brushrolls for most of its tools, making it easier to remove hair wraps. Its Submarine mopping floorhead is quite effective for handling any mud or dirt your pet might track inside on hardwood or tile floors, but just be aware that this attachment has a small clean water reservoir and is a bit of a hassle to clean.
- Whole machine filtration system.
- Does a great job of dealing with pet hair.
- Effective filtration system.
- Submarine head incurs extra maintenance requirements and ownership costs.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is an excellent choice for cleaning stairs. Its cordless design allows you to clean larger staircases without worrying about swapping outlets or tripping over a power cord, and its relatively lightweight chassis and reconfigurable design make it easy to carry around or to use as a handheld vacuum with any one of its included attachments. It delivers strong overall performance on a variety of surface types, too, so it can easily tackle debris on hardwood and laminate stairs as well as carpeted ones—just note that its strong suction can make it hard to maneuver on carpet.
- Lightweight, maneuverable construction.
- Wide range of tools and brushes.
- Automatic power adjustment system.
- Doesn't feel especially sturdy.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is a great choice for cleaning the inside of your car. You can easily reconfigure it into a lightweight, fairly compact handheld vacuum, and it comes with a variety of helpful attachments, including an upholstery nozzle, a crevice tool, a dusting brush, and a miniature turbo brush tool that you can use to clean your seats. You don't have to worry about staying close to an outlet due to its cordless design.
- Wide range of tools and brushes.
- Great battery performance for a cordless model.
- Doesn't feel especially sturdy.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine isn't really designed for workshop cleaning. It does a fantastic job of clearing away household debris on hard surfaces, but it isn't meant to deal with heavy-duty debris like wood or metal shavings. Its Submarine mopping head can help you deal with dried-on dirt and small amounts of mud, but it isn't really intended for clearing away large amounts of water either.
- Good overall cleaning performance.
- Submarine head can clear away small amounts of liquid.
- Great battery performance for a cordless model.
- Doesn't feel especially sturdy.
- Submarine head incurs extra maintenance requirements and ownership costs.
- Not intended for heavy workshop debris.
Changelog
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Updated Mar 11, 2026:
We've updated the 'HEPA Filter Part Number' field in the Recurring Cost portion of the review and updated the text to include a link to this unit's optional HEPA filter.
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Updated Jan 28, 2026:
We mentioned the Submarine V2 floorhead on the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine.
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Updated Jan 28, 2026:
We lowered the recurring cost score after discovering an increase in the wet roller's cost.
- Updated Aug 26, 2024: We've updated the scores in the Hard Floor Pick-Up, High-Pile Carpet Pick-Up, Low-Pile Carpet Pick-Up, and Pet-Hair Pick-Up tests to align with a broader data set. For more information about the reasoning for this update, you can look at our forum post.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
There are two variants of the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine, though they differ only slightly in terms of included attachments. We tested the standard Submarine model, and you can see its label here.
| Model Name | Tools Included | Color | Additional Features/Notes |
| V15s Detect Submarine | Fluffy Optic cleaner head, Digital Motorbar floorhead, Submarine floorhead, Hair Screw tool, Combination tool, Crevice tool, Wand clip | Nickel/Yellow | |
| V15s Detect Submarine Absolute | Fluffy Optic cleaner head, Digital Motorbar floorhead, Submarine floorhead, Hair Screw tool, Combination tool, Crevice tool | Gold/Teal | Features whole machine HEPA filtration, only available from the manufacturer's website |
Let us know in the discussions below if you come across another variant of this vacuum.
Popular Vacuum Comparisons
The Dyson Submarine is a high-end cordless stick vacuum, essentially a reprogrammed variant of the Dyson V15 Detect that you can use with a specially designed additional floorhead meant for wetting and scrubbing away stains on hard floors. That isn't necessarily bad; the standard V15 is among the best cordless models on the market, with superb overall performance, a slick, user-friendly design, and a lightweight chassis. It's also worth noting that the V15s Submarine also comes with the updated Fluffy Optic cleaner head found on the newer Dyson Gen5detect, which is a marginally more effective attachment for cleaning bare floors.
That aside, the Submarine model does little to justify the substantial price increase over the standard V15: the new mopping floorhead does an okay job of cleaning stains, but it's prone to leaking, is a bit of a hassle to clean, and holds a pitiful amount of clean water. If you're comfortable buying a separate tool for the job, buying a simple manual mop alongside the standard V15 might be the more fiscally responsible decision.
If you'd like other alternatives, you can see our recommendations for the best stick vacuums and the best cordless vacuums. If you're interested in other models from the same brand, you can check out our picks for the best Dyson vacuums.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine and the Dyson V15 Detect are effectively the same vacuum, with the main difference being that only the V15s model is compatible with the Submarine floorhead. This isn't due to any hardware differences—you can physically attach the Submarine head to the standard V15—but only the V15s Submarine model is programmed to recognize and work with this head. That said, the standard V15 will deliver all but identical performance at a much lower price, and it's the better option if you don't need the mopping floorhead.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is a slightly better vacuum than the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine. The V15 offers marginally better performance on carpet, and the Submarine mopping floorhead performs a little better than the Submarine V2 mopping floorhead on the V16. On the other hand, the V16 offers about twice the battery life at low power than the V15.
When judged purely as a cordless stick vacuum, the Dyson Gen5detect is a slight upgrade over the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine. The Gen5detect feels a little sturdier, weighs a little less, and has a slightly more powerful motor, though there's little to differentiate the two vacuums when it comes to real-world performance. However, only the V15s is compatible with the Submarine mopping head, which is quite effective in clearing stains but has a couple of important caveats: it's a hassle to clean, is poorly sealed, incurs higher ownership costs, and has a limited overall range before you need to refill its tiny internal water reservoir.
The Samsung Jet 90 Complete and Dyson V15s Detect Submarine are both cordless stick vacuums compatible with purpose-designed mopping floorheads. The Samsung's Spinning Sweeper attachment uses rotating microfiber pads to scrub away stains. In contrast, the Dyson's Submarine head features a single wet roller, along with separate reservoirs for clean and dirty water. Both floorheads are sealed off, as the vacuums they're compatible with aren't designed to suck up liquids. While both designs offer similar stain-clearing performance, only the Dyson vacuum's head can actually lift away small amounts of liquid, thanks to its separate dirty water reservoir. When judged entirely as vacuums, the Dyson also pulls slightly ahead—it's a little more powerful, has a longer battery life, and is equipped with an automatic power adjustment system.
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